Recently, my mom went to a dinner party. Upon recounting her adventure (mainly the food), she asked me a question about what she was served: Chicken cutlets with artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes. "How would you have made that?" She asked. As we began to discuss how we could improve on someone else's dish (I know, how haughty of us), we decided to each take the basic ingredients, and the next day, discuss the results. Interestingly, the results were quite different. Especially since I did not stick to the main ingredients. Yes, I cheated. But maybe that's why mine turned out so much better than hers! (There's that annoying haughtiness again... tsk tsk Anouk) So here it is, my version of chicken with artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes:
Which is actually not chicken at all. It is veal escalope and marinated artichoke hearts in a sage & white wine sauce with a dollop of sun-dried tomato butter. And it was delicious!! So delicious that I'll cut to the chase and give you the recipe quickly.
Sun-dried tomato butter
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sun-dried tomato
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 clove garlic
1 teaspoon za'atar
2 leaves of sage
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Leave the butter to come to room temperature for 30 minutes. Now, I don't have a food processor (Christmas gift idea for anyone who's listening! hint, hint) so I had to do this the old-fashioned way. But if you do have a food processor, I suggest just throwing all the ingredients in there together, and blending. Otherwise, you are stuck like me, mincing everything for hours, hands cramping, sweat pouring... but worth it!
So basically, I minced the sun-dried tomato and sage leaf until it was basically a paste, then pressed the garlic, adding everything in a bowl with the other ingredients, and then mashing it all into oblivion. Man, I wish I had a food processor...
Once it is all mixed up, put it in the fridge for at least one hour to solidify.
Veal escalope and marinated artichoke hearts in a sage white wine sauce
For the moment, as my partner is travelling, I'm cooking for one. (He'll be back on Sunday though. Yay!) So if you are cooking for more, just adjust the quantities.
4 thin veal escalopes
2 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup white wine
5 leaves of sage
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cube of chicken bouillon
3 small marinated artichoke hearts (I used lovely organic store bought ones)
Brush the veal with the flour, and shake off any excess. Heat a pan on medium heat, and throw in 2 tablespoons of butter and the 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Fry the veal escalope, 1 minute on each side. Remove the escalope from the pan (don't clean it! we need that yummy butter and browning) and set aside. Slice the garlic, not too thin, not too thick, about 3 mm, and throw them in the pan. After a minute of two, they should be nice and golden. Now let's pour in the white wine, add the sage, the marinated artichoke hearts, and the chicken bouillon. Stir until the bouillon is dissolved, and let all of this simmer on a low heat for about 7-10 minutes. Finally, add the remaining butter, stir, and then re-incorporate the meat into the sauce, including any juices that may have seeped out while we were making the sauce. Let this heat up for a few minutes, decorate a plate with it, add the bursting-with-flavour sun-dried tomato butter, and finally, time to eat!! I suggest a side of mashed potatoes and a complimenting glass of white wine.
Which is actually not chicken at all. It is veal escalope and marinated artichoke hearts in a sage & white wine sauce with a dollop of sun-dried tomato butter. And it was delicious!! So delicious that I'll cut to the chase and give you the recipe quickly.
Sun-dried tomato butter
1/4 cup sun-dried tomato
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 clove garlic
1 teaspoon za'atar
2 leaves of sage
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Leave the butter to come to room temperature for 30 minutes. Now, I don't have a food processor (Christmas gift idea for anyone who's listening! hint, hint) so I had to do this the old-fashioned way. But if you do have a food processor, I suggest just throwing all the ingredients in there together, and blending. Otherwise, you are stuck like me, mincing everything for hours, hands cramping, sweat pouring... but worth it!
So basically, I minced the sun-dried tomato and sage leaf until it was basically a paste, then pressed the garlic, adding everything in a bowl with the other ingredients, and then mashing it all into oblivion. Man, I wish I had a food processor...
Once it is all mixed up, put it in the fridge for at least one hour to solidify.
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| Za'atar: The most magnificent Middle Eastern spice blend |
Veal escalope and marinated artichoke hearts in a sage white wine sauce
For the moment, as my partner is travelling, I'm cooking for one. (He'll be back on Sunday though. Yay!) So if you are cooking for more, just adjust the quantities.
4 thin veal escalopes
2 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup white wine
5 leaves of sage
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cube of chicken bouillon
3 small marinated artichoke hearts (I used lovely organic store bought ones)
Brush the veal with the flour, and shake off any excess. Heat a pan on medium heat, and throw in 2 tablespoons of butter and the 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Fry the veal escalope, 1 minute on each side. Remove the escalope from the pan (don't clean it! we need that yummy butter and browning) and set aside. Slice the garlic, not too thin, not too thick, about 3 mm, and throw them in the pan. After a minute of two, they should be nice and golden. Now let's pour in the white wine, add the sage, the marinated artichoke hearts, and the chicken bouillon. Stir until the bouillon is dissolved, and let all of this simmer on a low heat for about 7-10 minutes. Finally, add the remaining butter, stir, and then re-incorporate the meat into the sauce, including any juices that may have seeped out while we were making the sauce. Let this heat up for a few minutes, decorate a plate with it, add the bursting-with-flavour sun-dried tomato butter, and finally, time to eat!! I suggest a side of mashed potatoes and a complimenting glass of white wine.
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